No deja vu for Big Blue: Kentucky tops West Virginia, advances to regional final

Big leads and the West Virginia Mountaineers sitting in the opposing dugout have become a nightmare situation for Kentucky the last two years in the NCAA Tournament.

On Saturday, the Wildcats confronted their tormentor.

A year after seeing West Virginia rally from a 12-7 deficit in the eighth inning to win the Clemson Regional Final, Kentucky saw an early 6-0 lead evaporate against the Mountaineers. Deja vu was lurking. Anxiety was rising.

But, this time, the Cats regrouped, scoring three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning en route to an 11-9 win and a spot in the championship bracket of the Morgantown Regional.

Third-seeded Kentucky (33-21) will play at 5 p.m. ET on Sunday against the winner of the Noon elimination game between top-seeded West Virginia (41-15) and 2-seed Wake Forest (39-20). If the Cats win that game, they will advance to the super regionals for the fourth time in 10 years under head coach Nick Mingione. If they lose, the championship game of the double-elimination event will be played on Monday.

Kentucky seemed to be in total control early, forcing WVU ace and Big 12 Pitcher of the Year Maxx Yehl out of the game in the first inning after allowing four runs on two hits, two hit batters, and a walk. The biggest blow came from freshman outfielder Braxton Van Cleave, who launched a 417-foot home run over the right field wall to give the Cats a 4-0 lead.

Ten of the first 13 UK batters reached base on the day as the lead grew to 6-0 after two innings of play.

But the Mountaineers were not ready to concede with a rowdy, sold-out crowd behind them at Kendrick Family Ballpark. They chipped away for two runs in the third on a home run from Gavin Kelly and two more in the fourth on an RBI double by Tyrus Hall and a UK balk that eventually scored him to make it 6-4.

West Virginia cut it to 6-5 on a bases-loaded hit by pitch in the fourth, and tied it at 6-6 on a UK error in the fifth.

Suddenly, it was a brand new game.

Owen Jenkins’ two-out, two-run single up the middle helped UK reclaim the lead at 8-6 in the botoom of the fifth, but Kelly hit his second home run of the game in the sixth to pull the Mountaineers within 8-7.

In the seventh, a two-out bloop double down the right field line by WVU’s Hall tied the game once again at 8-8.

It remained there until the bottom of the eighth when the Cats manufactured three runs. An RBI single by Luke Lawrence and Hudson Brown’s two-run single through the middle made it an 11-8 game.

Jack Bennett (2-3) earned the win by holding the potent West Virginia lineup to only three runs (two earned) over the final four innings. The senior right-hander from Paducah scattered four hits and walked only one batter while striking out three in perhaps his most crucial outing as a Cat.

Reese Bassinger (4-3) took the loss for the Mountaineers, allowing three runs over his three innings on the mound. All three of those came in the decisive eighth inning after the right-hander had tossed two scoreless frames.

Each player in the UK lineup delivered at least one hit. Jayce Tharnish, Lawrence, and Ethan Hindle each had two hits to lead the Cats at the plate. Hindle drove in three runs, Lawrence brought home two, and Tharnish scored three times.

It was a balanced attack for UK, which also got two RBI from Hudson Brown, Van Cleave, and Jenkins.

Kentucky has beaten two aces, Chris Levonas of Wake Forest and WVU’s Yehl, to reach the championship bracket. It was a continuing trend for Nick Mingione’s squad, who beat five SEC aces in league play.

Up Next:

Kentucky returns to action on Sunday at approximately 5 p.m. ET in the championship bracket against the winner of the Noon elimination game between West Virginia and Wake Forest.

* Corrected

FINAL UK BOX: Kentucky 11, West Virginia 9 pic.twitter.com/4RMiy0JdtC

— Jeff Drummond (@JDrumUK) May 31, 2026